The City of Johannesburg's audit outcome has deteriorated, prompting calls for urgent intervention to address governance and financial management challenges.
South Africa's metropolitan municipalities have again failed to secure a single clean audit, with the Auditor-General warning that governance failures continue to undermine financial stability and service delivery across the country's major cities.
In her latest local government audit report, Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke said municipalities in Gauteng in particular were experiencing declines in audit outcomes, financial health and service delivery. Although metros account for 54% of local government expenditure and serve millions of residents, none achieved a clean audit.
The City of Johannesburg was singled out as requiring sustained intervention from both executive and oversight structures after its audit outcome deteriorated from an unqualified opinion to a qualified audit opinion.
Civil society organisation the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) said the 2024/25 local government audit reflected a municipal crisis that remained entrenched despite some improvements.
